1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automobiles, particularly to a protective fuel fill bib that protects an entire fender area adjacent to its fill pipe in case an accidental trickling or massive overflowing of fuel occurs during filling.
2. Description of Prior Art
Today, more people than ever are filling their automobiles themselves to take advantage of the lower prices of "self-service". However, without the service of a skilled, professional service-station attendant, many people spill fuel from the fuel-hose nozzle or fill pipe onto their automobiles' finishes, thus giving their automobiles' finishes both an ugly appearance and a possibly permanent run-mark. This happens even when they are careful about filling, since fuel often surges out of the fill pipe or drips from the nozzle when it is removed from the fill pipe.
Heretofore, a variety of devices have been proposed an implemented for protecting spilling fuel from contacting an automobile's finish.
One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,659,523 to Comber, Nov. 17, 1949. Comber suggests the use of a flat, rectangular bib with an aperture having an elaborate mounting device attached around it as a form of seal to prevent fuel from escaping from any gaps around the aperture in the event of a spill, together with a method of mounting the bib onto an automobile's fill pipe. The bib is made of flexible rubber with a raised bead around its edge, supposedly to prevent spillage of easily dripping fuel. However in a spill situation, any overflowing fuel would flow over the raised bead and onto the unprotected portions of the automobile's body. Also, the raised bead decreased the bib's flexibility; thus if it were made large enough to be effective, it would be diffcult to fold and tuck the bib back into the automobile's fill-pipe compartment for convenient storage. Thus the user would have to install and remove the bib on the fill pipe every time it was used.
Another similar device is the fender protector in U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,813 to Wagner, Jan. 28, 1951. The shape of this fender protector can be best described as like a wire hanger having a garment bag-like shield hung on the hanger; the shield was made of a flat and flexible rubber sheet which was impervious to fuel. A user would have to hang this device around an automobile's fill pipe before filling. If this device had been made long enough to cover a fender as suggested and wide enough so that spilling fuel couldn't overflow to either side, it still would not protect the upper half of the fill pipe area. Thus if fuel gushed out of the fuel-hose nozzle, the spill would run behind and down the underside of the fender protector. Also, from the large size of Wagner's design, it is obvious that the user would have to install and remove this device each time fuel was added.
Also, since the above devices were made of a flat and flexible material; they had a tendency to hug the natural body curves of an automobile, so that if a spill occurred, the overflowing fuel would flow naturally with the automobile's contour and onto the unprotected areas of the body. Thus all of these devices were tantamount to useless if a spill occurred.